1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a method of obtaining coagulated legume fruit protein fractions having a molecular weight of greater than 14, to coagulated legume fruit protein fractions with a molecular weight greater than 14 and less than or equal to 600, and to the use thereof. Thus, the invention relates to obtaining plant proteins, the plant proteins themselves as well as the use of these proteins.
2. Description of Related Art
Proteins are vital chemical compounds for the entire living world, mostly with biochemical functions as enzymes, but also as storage substance (storage proteins), so to say as resource reservoir for vitally important processes, primarily for growth and/or reproduction processes. Proteins are characterized by their molecular size, their composition as well as their secondary and tertiary structure. We talk of proteins if the chemical structure consists exclusively of amino acids and the chain length amounts to approximately 30 or more amino acids. Shorter chains are usually called peptides. However, there is actually no exact definition of this classification. It is rather arbitrary and only useful for some individual situations. Proteins are generated by mono-cellular creatures, e.g., bacteria and yeasts, plants but also by animals. They are indispensable to human and animal nutrition as well as health. Besides their chemical, nutritive and biochemical characteristics, proteins possess also so-called functional characteristics. Features like their water absorption capability, digestibility, water solubility, the creation and stabilization of foam as well as their emulsifying capabilities are characterized by the tertiary and secondary structure and make them applicable for technical applications. Thus, proteins are used in many technical fields, for instance as glue, emulsifying and thickening agents. If exposed to heat or acids or alkali their tertiary structure is severely and often irreversibly damaged. The secondary structure is destroyed by proteolysis occurring due to enzymes or highly alkaline or acid mediums. Thus, it is very important to maintain the proteins' functional characteristics during their isolation.